Stephen Hirsh, the self-styled ‘king of porn’ is to speak at Yale University’s “Sex Week” programme tomorrow, reportedly to ask Google and Yahoo to "erect stronger barriers" to prevent children from viewing his own company’s wares online.
Vivid Entertainment boss Hirsch said in a press release this week: "None of the search engines and portals, but particularly Yahoo and Google, has taken any significant steps in this direction".
He added: "This is not about First Amendment rights, it is about protecting children."
Pot, kettle, black
"We have made it a company priority to protect children online by creating tools for users to safeguard themselves and by supporting efforts to educate children, parents, and communities about safe online experiences," a Yahoo rep told AFP news, in response to Mr Hirsch’s comments.
"We have focused on protecting children from online pornography through our safe search feature, filters for offensive language, privacy preferences and parental controls."
Google sense
For its part, a rep from Google added that: "We're deeply committed to helping keep our users safe."
The rep also stressed that Google works with non-profit groups such as Common Sense Media, Family Online Safety Institute, and i-Safe to tutor families and teachers about keeping children safe online.
"When it comes to child safety, we aim to empower parents with tools to make their own choices about what content they want their children to see and educate children on how to stay safe online," the rep added.
Porn baron Hirsch claims that ISPs should be more aggressive in age-checking internet users seeking to buy and view adult content.
